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Thursday, January 25, 2018

The American System Is Not Capitalism

One of the great myths of our time is that America is a capitalistic country. It is not, and has not been close to capitalistic for more than 150 years.

Capitalism is a social system in which an individual’s rights, including his rights to own property, are recognized and all property is privately owned. In a capitalistic society, governments acknowledge that individuals and companies can and should compete for their own economic gain, and the prices of goods and services are determined by the free market. The role of government in capitalistic societies is to ensure that markets function without interference and to protect individuals from fraud and/or the use of physical force by others.

Capitalism is not about greed. Capitalism is about human freedom, or as we term it, personal liberty. As Adam Smith posited inWealth of Nations, when individuals are permitted to pursue their self-interest through markets, they are amazingly good at finding ways of bettering not only themselves but society as well.

In Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ayn Rand writes:

The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Communism in Disguis !! is what we Really Have !!!

Anonymous said...

Taxed to Death is Not FREE !!!

Anonymous said...

1:04 you may have received an education bordering on communism but unfortunately we are close enough to capitalism that companies such as Walmart can rake in the profits while paying their workers meager salaries. Meager enough that they are eligible for government benefits furthering the burden on you and I, the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who think you own anything of value other than "stuff", think again. Property belongs to the nation and you just have temporary custodianship of it.

Anonymous said...

Just as many people mistakenly believe we live in a democracy. Just ain't so.

Anonymous said...

This is a great article and oh so true.

Anonymous said...

Our Politicians just as Damn crooked as the Russians and
Chinese ..... America is in Real Trouble !!